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If you are using the network of a hotel or a train station, for instance. Assumption is that you trust that VPN provider of course.

by s1rech 6y ago

Hamuko 6y ago
Wouldn't you be better served by your own VPN server?
- J-Kuhn 6y ago
  Not everyone can setup their own web/mail/vpn/whatever server.
- yjftsjthsd-h 6y ago
  Then you're the only person coming from that IP; a commercial service lets you hide in the crowd.
- seppin 6y ago
  Yes but deploying a vpn to digitalocean for example made the web unusable. Too many "spam" catches when simply trying to browse the web
muststopmyths 6y ago
exactly. I have at least some trust in Mulvad, but I'll be damned if I'm getting on the hotel WiFi in a US hotel chain without VPN. Let alone while travelling in foreign countries. I frequently access my bank info etc. on such trips. With a VPN at least I have fewer random threat vectors to consider on a network.
- BoumTAC 6y ago
  but every site nowadays use https. Doesn't it prevent issue with public wifi ?
  - rasguanabana 6y ago
    Not all traffic is http.
- djrogers 6y ago
  What ‘bank info etc.’ are you accessing that isn’t TLS encrypted already? Adding IPSEC on top of that isn’t helping much, if at all…
  - muststopmyths 6y ago
    I've frequently (especially outside the US, but even in a major hospital system here in San Francisco) come across WiFi networks that force access web through a MITM proxy. Yes, HTTPS will help me detect it, but if I need to actually get through, a VPN is helpful. "bank info" in this case being anything from logging in to check my balance, pay bills or even contact them via their secure messaging because I'm disputing a transaction. It doesn't eliminate all threats, but I'm not a secret agent ninja that needs 100% hardened communications. I just need a modicum of assurance.
LordHeini 6y ago
Well https takes care of that. The hotel might be able to see that you visited a certain website but thats about it.
- nicoburns 6y ago
  Asssuming they don't MITM your connection.
  - bzb6 6y ago
    Which you would notice immediately because of the big, scary warnings.
    - nicoburns 6y ago
      Right, but how do you respond to that? Using a VPN seems like a reasonable approach in this situation.
      - LiberatedLlama 6y ago
        It's a hotel right? I would respond by closing my laptop, then my eyelids, then checking out the next morning.
      - monocasa 6y ago
        You respond primarily with non technical means, making a giant stink that a hotel that generally lives and dies on corporate money is man in the middling their WiFi.
  - LordHeini 6y ago
    Assume my hotel has some MITM running with the right (broken) certificates and so on. Which is not that trivial to begin with. How hard would it be to take over the dns and simulate a fake VPN too? Or just constantly disconnect the vpn and hope the user stops using it for a while.
    - 6y ago

If you are using the network of a hotel or a train station, for instance. Assumption is that you trust that VPN provider of course.

by s1rech 6y ago

If you are using the network of a hotel or a train station, for instance. Assumption is that you trust that VPN provider of course.

Hamuko 6y ago

Wouldn't you be better served by your own VPN server?

J-Kuhn 6y ago
Not everyone can setup their own web/mail/vpn/whatever server.
yjftsjthsd-h 6y ago
Then you're the only person coming from that IP; a commercial service lets you hide in the crowd.
seppin 6y ago
Yes but deploying a vpn to digitalocean for example made the web unusable. Too many "spam" catches when simply trying to browse the web

muststopmyths 6y ago

exactly. I have at least some trust in Mulvad, but I'll be damned if I'm getting on the hotel WiFi in a US hotel chain without VPN. Let alone while travelling in foreign countries. I frequently access my bank info etc. on such trips. With a VPN at least I have fewer random threat vectors to consider on a network.

BoumTAC 6y ago
but every site nowadays use https. Doesn't it prevent issue with public wifi ?
- rasguanabana 6y ago
  Not all traffic is http.
djrogers 6y ago
What ‘bank info etc.’ are you accessing that isn’t TLS encrypted already? Adding IPSEC on top of that isn’t helping much, if at all…
- muststopmyths 6y ago
  I've frequently (especially outside the US, but even in a major hospital system here in San Francisco) come across WiFi networks that force access web through a MITM proxy. Yes, HTTPS will help me detect it, but if I need to actually get through, a VPN is helpful. "bank info" in this case being anything from logging in to check my balance, pay bills or even contact them via their secure messaging because I'm disputing a transaction. It doesn't eliminate all threats, but I'm not a secret agent ninja that needs 100% hardened communications. I just need a modicum of assurance.

LordHeini 6y ago

Well https takes care of that. The hotel might be able to see that you visited a certain website but thats about it.

nicoburns 6y ago
Asssuming they don't MITM your connection.
- bzb6 6y ago
  Which you would notice immediately because of the big, scary warnings.
  - nicoburns 6y ago
    Right, but how do you respond to that? Using a VPN seems like a reasonable approach in this situation.
    - LiberatedLlama 6y ago
      It's a hotel right? I would respond by closing my laptop, then my eyelids, then checking out the next morning.
    - monocasa 6y ago
      You respond primarily with non technical means, making a giant stink that a hotel that generally lives and dies on corporate money is man in the middling their WiFi.
- LordHeini 6y ago
  Assume my hotel has some MITM running with the right (broken) certificates and so on. Which is not that trivial to begin with. How hard would it be to take over the dns and simulate a fake VPN too? Or just constantly disconnect the vpn and hope the user stops using it for a while.
  - 6y ago